...UBUNTU! An Inspiring Story About an African Tradition of Teamwork and Collaboration By Dr. Bob Nelson and Dr. Stephen Lundin In Ubuntu!, the authors share the story of John Peterson, a new manager in the credit department at a major bigbox retailer, who is struggling in his job. The people under him are not working as well or effectively as they need to, and his department is falling behind in meeting its goals. His only solution is to take on more work himself, burning the midnight oil and coming in most weekends to pick up the slack and keep his department above water. When one of the employees stays behind to help him—a young man who came to America from a small village in Africa—he learns of the ancient wisdom and hidden power of the African philosophy of Ubuntu (the philosophy that considers the success of the group above that of the individual). Before long, it begins to change the way he thinks about the people he works with, about himself, and about how he runs his department and his life. Through the telling of John’s story, the authors reveal the core elements of the African philosophy of Ubuntu, as well as uncover its business applications that any manager or professional can apply. By the end of the story John has not only turned his department around with Ubuntu but the bigbox retailer has taken on the philosophy of Ubuntu as a corporate way of life. OB applies to Ubuntu in that they both focus on the individual, group and organization. The book and Ubuntu...
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...Abstract The nature of forgiveness is often misunderstood and misinterpreted. After experiencing organizational damage, trauma, or injustice, one challenge facing leaders is to help the organization heal, restore positive energy, and enhance resiliency. Fostering forgiveness is one effective mechanism for achieving those outcomes. This paper illustrates how justice and forgiveness was analyzed within my workforce and implications established to eliminate the issue from reoccurring. Primary focus will be on interpreting the problem from the perspective of self-responsibility. Keywords: workplace, justice, forgiveness, self-responsibility, accountability, ownership. Justice and Forgiveness in the Workplace Socialization and positive chemistry amongst individuals of any given company is desired yet not always attained. Having a work environment in where most individuals get along not only makes it a suitable environment to work in but also an enjoyable one to be a part of. However, in order to portray such healthy environment one must first analyze the individuals that make up such environment and ask are they here for the betterment of the company or are they just here for a paycheck? This paper discusses the importance of self-responsibility and exemplifies the power of justice and forgiveness. Issue at Hand Within the past, couple months my company had been going through many unforeseen changes. Due to the unsolicited changes, employees’ morale and spirits had...
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...vowed he was going into retirement yesterday. Do not believe it. Desmond Tutu has retired before and whenever a serious injustice reared its head he has returned. Desmond Mpilo Tutu was one the central forces in the dismantling of the apartheid state which kept a white elite in power over the black majority in South Africa for nearly five decades, causing untold death and suffering. In the early years of apartheid various movements of political protest and resistance arose. The white regime responded by arresting tens of thousands of black activists. Many more in the African National Congress (ANC) went into exile, to continue their opposition from abroad. The torch of resistance back home was passed largely to the South African churches, the one group the white government could not outlaw. Its most prominent leader was Desmond Tutu who in 1975 had become the first black man to be appointed Dean of St. Mary’s Anglican Cathedral in Johannesburg. “It was people of faith who by and large kept the fires of revolution burning,” he later said in an interview for a BBC documentary I presented. Just a year after his appointment at the cathedral he came to international attention for the vigour of his condemnations of the massacre of schoolchildren in Soweto. Hundred were mown down by white police for protesting against the government’s decision to make black schools use Afrikaans as the language of education. Tutu bravely spoke out, encouraging the public in the West to launch an economic...
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...The State of the Rainbow Nation by Jeff Cangialosi (2012) Following the rest of the crowd, I stood quickly as the South African national anthem began to play. I was about to watch my first rugby game at the University of the Western Cape and sitting beside me was my newest South African friend Francis. As I strained to hear the national anthem, I realized that the majority of the song was not in English but a mixture of other languages that I could not decipher. Sitting back down, I turned to Francis and asked him what languages I had just heard in the national anthem. He responded, “There are five different languages in the song brother…Xhosa, Zulu, Sesotho, Afrikaans, and English…it’s supposed to create unity, but brother, the people here, they are not unified. No one knows the words.” Language is one of the most obvious indicators of the vast diversity of South Africa. The national anthem may be composed of five different languages, but in total, the country has eleven official languages. In Cape Town, Afrikaans, English, and Xhosa are the most widely spoken languages, but as you travel across the country, you encounter many different indigenous languages. In addition to language, another marker of South Africa’s diversity is color. Infamous for its past of apartheid, South Africa is the land of people who are black, white, coloured, and Asian. Making up almost 80% of the population demographic, black South Africans are the largest racial group, but in my view...
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...George Washington 2. 0 Alexander Hamilton 3. 0 Benjamin Franklin 4. 0 Adolph Hitler List B: 1. 0 Eleanor Roosevelt 2. 0 Henry Kissinger 3. 0 Mahatma Gandhi 4. 0 Susan B. Anthony List C: 1. 0 Albert John Luthuli 2. 0 Iva Ikuko Toguri D'Aquino 3. 0 Gamal Addel Nasser 4. 0 Jawaharlal Nehru List D: 1. 0 Indira Gandhi 2. 0 Ralph Bunche 3. 0 Frederick Douglass 4. 0 Clara Barton List E: 1. 0 Ariel Sharon 2. 0 Nelson Mandela 3. 0 Fidel Castro 4. 0 Dalai Lama List F: 1. 0 Betty Williams 2. 0 Prince William (England) 3. 0 Kim Jong Il 4. 0 Kofi Annan List G: 1. 0 Aung San Suu Kyi 2. 0 Kim Dae Jung 3. 0 Gerry Adams 4. 0 Kim Jong Un List H: 1. 0 Raul Castro 2. 0 Bishop Desmond Tutu 3. 0 Ralph Nader 4. 0 Lech Walesa Part 2: (Points Possible: 100) a. Due Date (See Blackboard and Fill In): . b. Research your chosen Political Figures: i. Using the Internet, Newspapers, Magazines, etc. find out what your political figures were like and their background information. 1. Make sure you check your sources for reliability (e.g., don't rely on Wikipedia, etc. as absolute truth). It is inadvisable to use personal websites for information since accuracy is questionable. Use a reputable source. Remember, you are asserting facts to support your position. 2. Record the citation to each source of information carefully. a. See the...
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...Who am I?: self and other As the former Archbishop of South Africa, Desmond Tutu once said, “a person is a person through other persons.” This statement alludes to the fact that belonging is critical to our sense of self as a person; often we define ourselves through the quality of these relationships. Likewise an Age columnist, Ross Gittins reminds us, “we are, above all, social animals.” After we have secured our physical survival, the most important thing in each of our lives is our relationships: with friends, neighbours, workmates and, above all, with our families”. Author and social commentator Hugh Mackay states, “we are defined more by our interdependence than our independence”. Also, “we are individuals with a strong sense of our independent personal identity and we are members of families, groups and communities with an equally strong sense of social identity, fed by our intense desire to belong.” Likewise, Dr Michael Schluter, an important social thinker and founder of Britain’s Relationships Foundation draws attention to the fundamental importance of relationships in our lives and its role in securing our wellbeing. As Ross Gittins also asks, “take away all our relationships and who would have much reason to keep living?” Because we are social animals, we gravitate towards groups that become instrumental in shaping our views and values, our attitudes and behaviour. Frequently, we find ourselves conforming to the dominant views and values of the group...
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...The Sunflower is a first person account of a Jew living in a concentration camp during the Holocaust confronted with the question, when such an atrocity has been committed is it possible for a person to forgive? Throughout Simon flashes between the present in the concentration camp, back to his recent past, even further to his time as a youth. Selected to work outside of the camp one day Simon and others were marched through the town. Along the way he noticed a graveyard for Nazi soldiers and above each grave, a sunflower, had been planted. Upon seeing this, he experienced envy for the soldiers who were still connected to “the living world”(Wiesenthal, 1998, p. 14). Simon indicated his desensitization to death, but upon seeing the graves with flowers and knowing when he died, he would be placed in an unmarked grave with no flowers to tie him to this world, he felt bitterness along with a small hope that he “would come across them again; that they were a symbol with a special meaning”(Wiesenthal, 1998, p. 15). Arriving to the work site, Simon is approached by a nurse inquiring if he was Jewish. Acknowledging this, she took him to a room that had been transformed into a sickroom for Karl, a dying SS soldier. Karl’s story began with his youth and Catholic upbringing and he joined the Hitler Youth and SS willingly. He then gave his account of the crime he committed and was so desperately seeking forgiveness for. Simon listened silently to the murder of more Jews and walked...
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...Vigilance Essay Feb 2015 1028 words The price of freedom is eternal vigilance. (Quote- Desmond Tutu) Vigilance is defined as the action or state of being alert and watchful. It is concerned both with what is and what will be. Thus it is important to be Vigilant in the army for many reasons. Not the least of which being it could keep you and your buddies alive despite the world’s best attempts to make you otherwise. But it means more than just staying awake and alert at guard duty. It means both being mentally and physically prepared to react to changing conditions and to being aware and cognizant of the current conditions. There are three important categories to discuss here and expound upon. The First is Vigilance on Duty, the second is Vigilance to Duty and the third is Vigilance in your Duties. They that are on their guard and appear ready to receive their adversaries are in much less danger of being attacked than the supine, secure and negligent. (Quote by - Benjamin Franklin) As it was stated before Vigilance on Duty can mean life or death in the military. If you are on Guard and fall asleep the Enemy could sneak in and kill you and your battle buddies without even a challenge. Vigilance on Radio duty means that you don’t miss important information coming it from far off units or battle buddies calling for rescue or backup and support. In the aid station vigilance may mean the ability to save lives by reacting quickly in the first few seconds of a critically wounded...
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...Two people who acted in similar methods when it came to civil disobedience were Martin Luther King Jr. and Bishop Desmond Tutu. Desmond Tutu was a civil rights activist in South Africa during the 1980s, while King was a civil rights activist in Alabama during the 1960’s. Both Tutu and King fought for African Americans who were treated unfairly in both South Africa and America. Tutu and King wanted to bring an end to segregation and apartheid and they felt the best way was through civil disobediences. Although they agreed the unfair treatment of African Americans needed to end, King’s approach to the topic was a lot more instructional and insistent. Tutu believed his job was not to lead people and show them how to achieve their common goal, but instead to let them know that he was on their side as well as many others....
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...Making a Tutu Chandelier Having daughters can be a wonderful learning experience. Children are always coming up with new things to create. One day in our quest for new ideas for arts and crafts day, my girls and I came across an interesting picture of a tutu chandelier. The instructions seemed simple enough so we decided to try it out. We were so pleased with the outcome that I thought it would be a good idea to share with others. To complete this project you will first need to gather all your materials. * A solid ring (I got mine for $2.30 at Hobby Lobby) * 6 inch spool of tulle * lace or decor ribbon for the outside of the ring * 8 flowers you can pop the heads off of * spool of beads for the droop * hanging bead string for the middle * ribbon to hang the chandelier * hot glue gun * hot glue sticks * scissors First lay out four ribbons on the four sides of your ring. After this, use the hot glue gun to glue the ribbons onto the ring near the top, bottom and both sides. This is what you will use to hang your tutu chandelier, so make sure they are as long or short as you need them from the destination, leaving a little room for trimming and error of course. The next step in the process is to cut all your tulle pieces out evenly. For this step, feel free to use the entire spool of tulle. Cut the pieces at about 12 inches per length. Then add to the ring in a standard no sew tutu knot. After, from the inside of the ring, add...
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...Posted: December 1, 2013 Company Overview: Tutu Heaven is the destination for super fabulous Tutu’s. Tutu Heaven is filled with colorful, creatively inspired one stop shopping tutu’s and dance apparels. Our company caters to creative minds and focuses on embracing the ideas of the customer. Tutu Heaven is fast becoming your go to place for Tutu’s and dance apparel. We hope to become America’s favorite place to work by hiring candidates who exhibit our values, passions, accountability, collaboration and humanity. Job Description Tutu Heaven’s Sales Associate will exhibit passionate, friendly, and helpful customer service. The sales associate is responsible for the following functions: customer service, signing up new rewards members, cashiering, store operations and merchandising. The associate with comply with all policies and procedures associated with the position which includes 95% attendance record. Responsibilities: Engage customers and promote Tutu Heaven’s Rewards program. The employee greets every customer in the stores, paying attention to customer ques while putting the customer before the task. Cashiering: Sales associates rings up the customers while following Tutu Heaven’s cash handling polices and register procedures. Store Operations: The sales associate maintains a clean and organized store. Included but not limited to picking up trash in aisles, returning merchandise to the designated area according to Tutu Heaven’s standards. Cleaning the sales associates...
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...Emporium. When Emile is gone, he leaves one of his best salespersons, Dorothy, in charge. Over the years, Emile has given Dorothy the authority to contract with vendors, negotiate sales, and conclude car sales contracts in his name. One August, Emile takes a long vacation, leaving Dorothy in charge. While he is gone a hurricane hits Florida where the Emporium is located, causing severe damage. Because Emile is floating down the Amazon, Dorothy cannot reach him for instructions. She decides that rather than leave the place in shambles, she will hire people to repair the Emporium. Dorothy hires a carpenter to rebuild a wall that was blown down by the storm. Phil, the carpenter, is busy at work on his scaffold when Dorothy’s Scottish terrier TuTu, who she keeps with her at work, plows into the scaffolding while chasing a cat. Phil is knocked off the scaffold and falls ten feet to the ground, suffering a broken leg. Please address any and all issues you spot in this problem. You may need to make a few assumptions, if so... please state what those assumptions are. According to www.businessdictionary.com, an agent’s duties are to act on behalf of and be subject to the control of the principal, act within the scope of authority delegated by the principal, use duties with appropriate care, avoid conflict with personal interests and those of the principal, and promptly hand over to the principal all monies collected on principal’s behalf. The principal’s duties are to compensate the agent...
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...Response to a South Africa Investment Leon Grier Personal & Organizational Ethics Dr. Tina Engle March 19, 2012 Response to a South Africa Investment In my judgment one of the benefits to continue with the expansion project of the Caltex plant is it would continue to keep Caltex black employees employed. Caltex has improved the life of its current minority employees even though the country itself hasn’t tried to improve the welfare of the rest of the black community. Another benefit is that that expansion project promised an annual return of 20 percent on the original investment, which is good for the shareholders. Finally, the benefit that I see is that Caltex is helping the economy of the South Africa by continuing its oil operations in its country. On the other hand by continuing operations in South Africa, and they are helping the government financially support the mistreatment of the black community. If Standard and Texaco did not build the plant, someone else would, likely a company with less global standards or stake in moral and ethical dilemmas. While most reasonable people, even in 1977, found apartheid to be cruel, unjust, and certainly morally wrong, one can think that it would be easier to change a situation from the inside out rather than the outside in. Even Caltex ended operations there in South Africa, the employees that had a little of success would be forced to return to where they began. Apartheid laws were designed to preserve the racial purity...
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...5 Must-Read Religious Books to Buy Today! While The Holy Bible remains the most popular book in the world, there are plenty of other worthwhile religious books to grab for your bookshelf. From true stories of faith to fictional best sellers steeped in religious feeling, there’s something for someone of every religion. Below are the Top 5 Must-Read Religious Books for you to purchase today– your nightstand will thank you! 1. The Book of Joy by the Dalai Lama and Desmond Tutu What better religious book to read than one written by Nobel Peace Prize Laureates His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu! This book will help you to find joy in even the darkest of times; everyone goes through their own suffering and hardships, but The...
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...Auteur Theory: Translated from the French, auteur simply means "author". There have been varied perceptions regarding this theory, its importance and effectiveness. Auteur theory is essentially “a method of evaluating films based on the director’s involvement and input”. The concept of ‘Auteur’ was first introduced by François Truffaut in 1954 in A Certain Tendency in French Cinema.(1) In this work he claimed that film is a great medium for expressing the personal ideas of the director. He suggested that this meant that the director should therefore be regarded as an auteur. According to him, there are three forms in which a director may be regarded as an Auteur. He agreed with André Basin’s idea that the film must be the direct expression of the director’s vision. The second aspect was that the director must be skilled with the camera. He believed the director is to camera as the writer is to pen. Lastly he believed for a director to be considered as an Auteur, he must leave behind a distinctive signature (based on Alexander Astruc’s idea), visually or as an idea in the film. (2) Years later, this concept was reintroduced by Andrew Sarris in 1962, in a publication titled “Notes on Auteur theory” (3). Accordingly, for a director to be considered as an auteur, the director must be well versed with the technical aspects of the film. The director must have a distinct style or a signature that distinguishes his films from the others. The movies must have a theme, an inner meaning...
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